Assailants pose as cops in 2nd such home invasion in a week

A man and woman were bound by three men who identified themselves as police officers after breaking into their South Baltimore home early Friday, a city police spokesman said.

The couple was sleeping in their home in the 1600 block of Elkins Lane when, at about 3:45 a.m., they heard noises downstairs and found three men, who identified themselves as officers and implied they had a gun, said police spokesman Det. Jeremy Silbert. The men were not wearing anything that identified them as police, Silbert said.

After binding the couple, the men searched the home and left with a cellphone, and possibly more items, before fleeing, Silbert said.

Neither the man or woman was injured, Silbert said.

He said police are investigating the possibility that Friday's home invasion is related to one that occurred early Monday morning, in which a 32-year-old man was shot. Three men, who also identified themselves as police, kicked in the door of a home in the 1500 block of Medford Rd., in the Ednor-Gardens Lakeside community, and bound a man and his wife with plastic "flex cuff" handcuffs.

Police said the man realized the intruders were not officers and began to fight back, and was shot once in the upper body. In that incident, the attackers were also not dressed in police uniforms nor did they display badges.

The victim was treated and released from a local hospital, police said.

Silbert said if an individual is unsure whether someone is a police officer, they should call 911.